This introductory page of the
"Summary Paper" chapter offers a simple, brief description of a
summary paper. For more, go to "Basics" and
to "Sample Papers"
by students. If
you understand this type of paper already or want to explore it in more depth, you might prefer to read "Advanced
Methods." All five web pages of this chapter are listed at the
top of this page--and also in the
right-hand column. Simply click on one of the five pages.

A
summary of a reading or text is a mirror image in smaller,
shorter form of the contents of an essay or book. They vary in
length.

Summaries are not essays
in themselves, they have nothing new to say, and not even your opinions or
feelings about the contents should appear in your summaries. While a summary may
mirror a text's contents, it is not a copy of the text. Not only is
it much shorter, but also it does not duplicate the exact wording. In fact, the
great majority of summaries do not repeat the phrases of the texts they summarize--there are almost never quotations in a summary--precisely
because the idea of writing a summary is to put in brief form, much
more intensively, what the text has said.

Some examples of summaries
are the "abstract" or "précis" you must give at the
beginning of some research and professional papers, the summarizing you must do
in a
critical,
literary,
or arts review, some parts of psychological and medical papers, parts of
speeches, and in some business or professional papers. Professionally, summary writing is necessary when reporting on
your own and others' job performances, writing resumes, and reporting on
work-related activities and events.

The goal of writing a summary of
a text is to mirror the text in much shorter form in your own words. Start by reading an argumentative
essay at least several pages in length, or a book. Then you should write a point-by-point summary of it using careful, accurate paraphrasing
of every paragraph (if it is a short essay), every page (if it is a long essay),
or every chapter (if it is a book), touching upon all the key points. Please also describe the
text's
argumentative structure and, if your instructor wishes, the author's key
illustrations and other details. Finally, provide a very short
introduction stating the text's overall thesis and the fact that you are
writing a summary (if you have not already stated this in the title), and a
final statement summarizing the text's conclusions. In
general, you should avoid quoting the text or using phrases from it.

If a text is not assigned to you to summarize, then you need
to find one. If an online text is acceptable, go to the chapter in
"Section D" called "Resources & Readings."

A "focus" in writing helps you at any given moment
to concentrate on writing. Here are several helpful, important focuses
people use to develop a disagreement.

[Below, substitute the proper info for the type of
paper for the stuff on analyses as given here:]

SUBJECT: If helpful, brainstorm a list of ideas. If
you are free to choose your own text, pick one that you understand well.
Whatever your text, study its contents and their meanings carefully,
imagining their intended audience and the reasons why the author wrote the
contents as he or she did.

FIRST
& SECOND DRAFTS:
Start with one or two methods that work best for you, but develop the
others in later drafts.

Read
critically: take your text apart so that you understand its
contents and structure thoroughly (see "How
to Read Critically").

Free-write: write as much as you can
quickly on what you know about your text and its contents.

Gather details: write descriptions or a
list of the facts, quotations, and/or experiences the author uses to
support his/her opinions.

Write for your audience: visualize
it. How can you best
summarize the text in a way your audience will fully understand?

Organize: make an outline using the
structure
above or whatever structure your instructor suggests.

STYLE,
TONE, and WRITER'S ROLE: In some longer summaries you may want--or be
required--to identify the text's style and tone, but not copy it. Your
role otherwise is only to summarize.

Develop, by your final draft, an academic style
and tone of calm, reasoned, fair, balanced logic. Develop (in early or late drafts) an
academic style and tone of calm, reasoned, fair, balanced logic. In
your role as a writer, you should remain a neutral observer, simply
applying the summarizing statements in a balanced, logical, consistent manner.

AUTHENTICITY: Be as real and meaningful as you can to your
audience, your content, and yourself. Respect your audience enough to
explain the text's ideas in such a way that it will understand them.
Be true to the content by representing it as well, perhaps, as would the
author himself or herself. In a summary, your "self" must seem to
disappear, so the only genuine authenticity possible to yourself is to
honestly and thoroughly work to represent the text's ideas without showing
prejudice against or judgment of them in any way.